This holiday season, Veterans need to keep an eye out for more than just great deals — this is when cyber criminals are cooking up a cornucopia of schemes to capture your credit card data and crash your holiday plans.
VA’s Privacy Service has a few tips on how you can shop safely this season and keep from getting more than you bargained for.
- Use credit cards rather than debit cards. If your data is stolen, credit card fraud protection allows you to dispute the erroneous charges. Debit cards also provide some fraud protection, but it is your money that is tied up during a dispute, rather than that of the credit card company.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi. Anyone can access public Wi-Fi and many hackers know how to steal your information on an open network. It’s best to shop at home on a secure network.
- Monitor your accounts. Review your bank statements regularly for suspicious charges.
- Use strong passwords. Use passwords that are at least eight characters long and are a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use the same password for multiple sites.
- Stay alert. If you’re out shopping at a retail store, shield your credit card numbers when you pay so that your information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Want to learn more about privacy? Visit VA Privacy Service at https://www.oprm.va.gov/privacy for tips, tools and resources for staying safe online.
This article was submitted to VAntage Point by VA’s Privacy Service program. Founded in 2002, VA Privacy Service is a division of the Office of Privacy and Records Management.
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Spring is an ideal time to review the steps needed to protect your personally identifiable information (PII) and reduce the possibility of experiencing identity theft.
During Data Privacy Week (Jan. 27 - 31), VA is sharing guidance on how Veterans and their beneficiaries can protect their data, especially Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
For Veterans especially, the risk of identity theft is high, as criminals target reoccurring monthly benefits payments. Bad actors utilize stolen privacy information to exploit VA benefits, health care and pensions.
One question……I have heard that any veteran can shop at the online exchanges,is this true and if so how?
Where can find information on veterans ability to use the Exchange online.